Tasks:
1. Select a charitable U.S. nonprofit organization of interest to you. Note that many religious nonprofits do not file the IRS Form 990. Recall that the IRS Form 990 is the primary source for nonprofits’ annual financial data. Collect the organization’s most recent IRS Form 990 from their website or a third-party provider like GuideStar (https://www.guidestar.org/Links to an external site.).
2. Based on the Form 990, note the Tax Exempt Status disclosed on the form header (Line I). Is the organization a 501(c)(3) organization or another type? Based on the information in Part I of the form, does the organization get more of its revenue from Contributions and Grants (Line 8) or Program Service Revenue (Line 9)? Did they have a surplus/profit or loss for the year (see Line 19)?
3. Calculate the program services ratio for the organization (divide “Program service expenses” by “Total expenses” found on IRS Form 990, Part IX, Line 25, Columns B and A, respectively).
4. Identify the two highest compensated individuals, their position titles, and their salaries (see IRS Form 990, Part VII, Section A).
Communicate Findings (The paper should not exceed 350 words):
1. Provide the name of the selected nonprofit organization and why it was chosen.
2. Was it difficult to locate the From 990 for the organization? Report out the findings based on the tasks including the type of organization, primary revenue source, and profitability.
3. Next, what is the program services ratio for the organization? Does this seem high or low to you? Any thoughts on the usefulness of this measure as an indicator of nonprofit efficiency (a higher ratio means more dollars are directed to program services rather than overhead and fundraising)?
4. What positions receive the highest compensation in the organization and what are the amounts of compensation? Any surprises related to compensation?